But it's probably for similar reasons to those terrifying, hell-mouth craters that keep opening up. The unseasonably warm weather in the Arctic regions — and, let's be honest, everywhere— is causing permafrost, the ground that should literally be permanently frozen, to thaw.

When permafrost thaws into soft soil, the liquid methane trapped underneath is released as a gas. This seems to be the case here: The research team who discovered the 15 or so patches of wobbly ground told the Siberian Times that methane and carbon dioxide emanated from the patch when they pierced it.